Towing vehicles and towed vehicles secure and haul a wide variety of cargo. Towed vehicles can be arranged to haul various types of cargo, such as boats, automobiles, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, consumer products, etc. Many such cargo items are large, heavy and difficult to move or maneuver onto the bed or frame of a towed vehicle, or the load bed of the towing vehicle. To assist in moving and/or maneuvering the cargo onto the towed or towing vehicle, such towed or towing vehicles may be equipped with a winch or winch assembly.
The winch assembly is often attached to a tongue of the towed vehicle or any appropriate position on the towing vehicle. The winch assembly may also be connected to a cargo item by, for example, a strap, cable, rope, chain or the like that may aid in pulling the cargo item onto the towed or towing vehicle, as applicable. The winch assembly may typically utilize a handle to rotate a drum to wind the strap or cable around the drum thereby pulling the cargo item towards the winch. The winch assembly may also be utilized to unload heavy items from the towed or towing vehicle by rotating the drum in the opposite direction thereby unwinding the strap or chain to assist with sliding the cargo item off of the towed or towing vehicle.
The winch assembly provides a mechanical advantage to the operator making it easier to move and/or maneuver heavy cargo items. It permits an operator to otherwise move and maneuver items that he or she would not otherwise be able to move and/or maneuver. For example, this makes it possible for an operator to load a boat onto a trailer wherein he or she would not otherwise be able to so.
Many prior art winch assemblies, however, do not possess a housing or body enclosing the moving parts thereof. As such, this may cause the moving parts to be exposed to the elements, dirt, etc., which may lead to increased wear on the moving parts and also may present an aesthetically less desirable appearance. Those winch assemblies that include a housing or body encasing, however, include many moving parts that are difficult to manufacture and/or assemble. Moreover, these types of winch assemblies require many additional parts such as fasteners, brackets, etc. These additional parts may be more difficult to assemble and/or more costly to produce. Therefore, there is a need for an improved winch/winch assembly.
In addition, prior art winch assemblies are often manufactured from a formed steel stamping. This material and process may severely limit the features and aesthetics that can be incorporated into such prior art winch assemblies. Therefore, there is a need for an improved winch/winch assembly.
In the prior art, a strap bolt may be used to pass through the drum assembly (outside of the drum hub) to assemble the winch strap to the drum. The strap bolt, however, may cause a “bump” where the strap wraps around the strap bolt as the strap is wound around the drum hub and strap bolt. This bump may cause the strap to rotate eccentrically, which may create a mechanical disadvantage and may put elliptical loading on the winch assembly, which may cause it to be less effective. Therefore, there is a need for a winch assembly that may generally avoid the creation of this “bump.”
In a traditional mounting application, fasteners have to be installed through the inside of the winch assembly. This may be cumbersome due to several components being located on the inside of the winch assembly. Making matters more difficult to access the mounting holes may be when a winch line is fully wound onto the drum. With this limited inside access, being able to hold down the head of the bolts is sometimes a problem when trying to tighten the nuts from the bottom side. Occasionally, parts of the winch may need to be disassembled to complete the installation. Therefore, there is a need for an improved winch/winch assembly that may have improved attaching features.